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Indoor air quality impacts respiratory health of nursing home residents

The indoor air quality of nursing homes has the potential to negatively impact the respiratory health of elderly people residing in the homes, according to study results.

“Our findings have shown an independent effect of several indoor air pollutants on the lung health of the elderly living in nursing homes,” Isabella Annesi-Maesano, PhD, of the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale in France, said in a press release. “This is a worrying problem since the body’s ability to cope with harmful air pollutants decreases as we age.”

Annesi-Maesano and colleagues randomly chose at least 20 people aged 65 years and older (mean age, 82 years; 71.8% women) from each of 50 randomly selected nursing homes in seven European countries.

Participants (n = 600) were given physical examinations, underwent clinical tests and answered questionnaires to reveal health and potential risk factors such as lifetime asthma or lifetime COPD. Measurements of indoor and outdoor air quality and comfort variables also were performed.

Excess risks for usual breathlessness (adjusted OR = 1.53; 95% CI, 1.15-2.07) and cough (aOR = 1.73; 95% CI, 1.2-2.5) were associated with elevated levels of the air pollutant PM₁₀.

The researchers also observed excess risks for COPD (aOR = 3.49; 95% CI, 1.17-10.3), exhaled carbon monoxide (aOR = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.02-1.55) and forced vital capacity (aOR = 1.16; 95% CI, 1.06-1.28) with greater levels of formaldehyde.

Only 19% of the participants lived in homes with adequate ventilation. More respiratory outcomes were observed in relation to poor ventilation, and a more pronounced effect of indoor air pollution and comfort parameters on respiratory outcomes were observed in the elderly permanently living in poorly ventilated nursing homes, the researchers wrote.

“Nursing homes should do more to prevent indoor air pollution by limiting its sources and by improving ventilation in their buildings,” Annesi-Maesano said in the release. “The respiratory health of residents should also be checked on a regular basis.”

Disclosure: The study was funded by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection and the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management.